Iakinf Bičurin's Descriptions of the Chinese Empire

The article seeks to present the publishing career of the renowned Russian religieux and sinologist lakinf Bičurin' (1-17-1853) as a coherent effort to shape the public image of the Chinese Empire in 19th-century Russia. Active whilst Russia's knowledge regime was gradually evolving from a restricted cabinet affair into an internationally competitive public enterprise that united scholars and publishers under new forms of authorship, Bičurin was a prolific writer who, making liberal use of Chinese-language sources, tried, and in part succeeded, to influence Russia's perception of the neighbouring empire and its peoples in a positive way. Bičurin's work is examined against the background of the general history of Russian sinology as well as the scholar's life and ideology, emphasising the role of original Chinese sources from the "Golden Age of the Qing" (1723-1796) in shaping Bičurin's own Sinophilia. Finally, relying mainly on primary sources such as Bičurin's works on Chinese geography, anthropology, and material culture, as well as reviews by domestic and international critics, it attempts to characterise the reception of Bičurin's work in relation to the contemporary evolution of the general Russian view of China, linked with the development of Russia's foreign policy, both towards China and Western Europe.